[center][h3]Team Mao[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Al Mamoon Northeast - Rocket Inc.
Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Mao’s [@Potemking], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Laharl’s [@Dark Cloud], Joker, Mona, Fox, Necronomicon, Braum[/center]

The echo of the Dragonborn’s shout took a moment to die down, but when the dust settled Braum and his shield still stood tall. Despite these people being his opponents, the Dragonborn couldn’t help give a nod of respect as he prepared himself for what promised to be a riotous melee fight. Sure enough Mao and Laharl leaped out from behind the shield to rush him down, and the Dragonborn met them with magics cycling through one hand and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/mVoxgML.png]magnific green-bladed war axe[/url] in the other.

Before Mao reached him he switched to Alteration magic to cast Stoneflesh, increasing his defense to make up for Marakunda, then back to Destruction magic to start things off with a blast of Chain Lightning. Undeterred, Mao dashed in and landed a good cut to his left arm, then pivoted to aim for his right. The Dragonborn did not let the pain distract him, but deflected Mao’s sword with his axe. He tried for a counterattack but the blockstun left the blow too slow to land, and as Mao moved to the left Laharl jumped in from the right, a blazing fist extended. A momentary panic galvanized the Dragonborn to action, but the skill of an adept guided his axe blade as he swung upward at Laharl’s incoming knuckles. A fiery explosion blossomed at the point of impact, pushing the demon off course and the Dragonborn a step closer to the corner.

He realized his situation immediately, and no doubt the more tactically minded Mao would too. Rather than wait for the demons to attack him at once again, the Dragonborn took the fight to the enemy. With a battlecry he charged forward, kicking the fallen barrel of a decimated water cooler at Mao for a momentary distraction, and lashed out at Laharl where he landed. Since he swung from the right and the kid had the wall to the left, he naturally dashed back to avoid blocking the blade with his exposed skin, but a momentary lack of situational awareness drove him straight into a computer desk in front of a still-intact cubicle divider. The Dragonborn’s next attack came before Laharl could get his bearings and forced him to block the axe with his bare forearms, cutting nearly to the bone as the force bent his upper body backward over the desk.

Without a moment’s delay the warrior kicked the desk itself to knock it over, not to further harm Laharl but to knock him down long enough to deal with Mao, who the Dragonborn now turned to face.

[hr]

Clutching his electricity-burned arm and gritting his teeth, Shadow sped backward out of immediate attack range. Elemental magic, swords, teleportation, time magic, summons...was there anything this bug didn’t have? And that irremissible flying saucer, so difficult to target and so easy to lose track of, insisted on making Sectonia even stronger thanks to intermittent buffs, heals, and magic restores. None so potent as to turn the tide, but annoying as hell nonetheless. “Damn insect,” Shadow growled. He disappeared, and a moment later appeared above her, a packed trash can as big as he was held over his head. “Squash already!”

He hurled the trash can down like a fast ball, his strength giving it a lot more speed than gravity would be itself. Still, it was far from unmanageable for Sectonia; a small dodge would be enough to avoid it, or she could just strike it down before it reached her. Whether destroyed early or allowed to fly past her, however, the can soon revealed a devilish secret. With a final muffled beep the grenade planted inside by Shadow went off in a foul-smelling burst of flaming debris and metal shrapnel. A maelstrom of fire and garbage filled the air in a wide area, making it extremely tough to see anything

Wielding a [url=https://i.imgur.com/cy9YeJ5.png]light machine gun[/url] retrieved from inside the office, Shadow entered the trash storm. The minute he spotted Sectonia, visible through the mayhem thanks to her large size, he started unloading. He fired on the move, constantly circling and moving up or down as thirty rounds of punishment hurtled the big bug’s way one after another.

Fortunately for the insect queen, she had help that didn’t need eyes to see where in the chaos Shadow was lurking. “Locking on to his bio signature!” Necronomicon announced after about five seconds of being shot at, floating behind Sectonia to use her as a shield. She began to create holographic objective markers at Shadow’s approximate position every second or so, each one a red exclamation point in a black diamond. “I’m pinging him as fast as I can. Mess ‘em up!”

[hr]

Return fire was something Fuse expected from the normal-looking woman with the weird pistol, not from that helmet-wearing elf lady. The Legend ducked as he continued to run, knowing that even if Midna was a total amateur when it came to firearms, all it would take was one well-placed shot to put him down for the count. Rather than chance returning fire with his pistol, he kept his head down and made for a better position. Once she ran out of bullets and the guns fell from her recoil-deadened hands he’d teach her a thing or two about gun etiquette.

A moment later he reached his second stash, sliding like a baseball player to home plate. On the desk lay his favorite [url=https://i.imgur.com/55zfd8V.png]Prowler[/url], the endearingly funny-shaped SMG just begging to be fired. “Oh yeah, come to papa,” he muttered, but just as he reached for it it suddenly fell through the desk and vanished. “...What!?” he exclaimed, baffled beyond words. He nearly stood up to look over the desk to search for it, only to realize he might get his head taken off for such impulsiveness. “Tsk,” he clicked his tongue as he looked over toward his final stash, where his last hidden weapon, a long-range, high-power light machine gun lay shining in the light. “Guess its time to break out the big guns.”

Instead, Shadow warped in, grabbed the gun, and disappeared again. It happened so fast that Fuse blinked and missed it, leaving him stunned. “What the hell is this!?”

In reply, he received an explosion. Quadruple rockets breezed straight through his cover as though it wasn’t there and detonated against the floor. His world disappeared in a cacophony of noise, force, and bright blue light in a blast that put Jinx’s to shame. When the explosion faded a moment later, a fresh sheet of ice covered everything in the vicinity. Everything that remained, at least.

For the moment, that included Fuse. He was gravely wounded and chilled to the bone, but a combination of body armor, distance from the blast’s epicenter, and sheer fortitude saved him. As unpleasant as getting simultaneously blown up and frozen was, he got the feeling he should be grateful that the cold was numbing the pain. He cracked open one eye to see Midna and Jesse, who was not bleeding out of the floor but instead right as rain, on their way to finish the job. [i]Damn. Though I got the redhead.[/i] Maybe they thought he was dead already? That couldn’t be good. But at least they wouldn’t be expecting one final trick.

With the only hand that worked Fuse pulled a [url=https://i.imgur.com/NHISWcq.png]fragment of magic bone[/url] from his pocket. He remembered the boss handing them out and the instructions she gave. [i]Use in case of dire emergency.[/i] Well, this fit the bill. As his enemies approached Fuse squeezed the brittle bone until it broke, hoping for a full heal or superpowers. Instead he disappeared in a burst of magic and was gone without a trace.

[hr]

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Jinx sang. She stalked between what was left of the rows of bullet-riddled cubicles, climbing over debris cast far and wide by Ciella, Shadow, and the Dragonborn’s destruction. Her rocket launcher dangled behind her on its harness. Every couple meters she summoned a Flame Chomper, a snare grenade with biting mechanical teeth, and tossed it down. “You’re starting to bore me. C’mon, my Flame Chompers wanna play! I have the best intentions…”

With a final flourish of magic from Zorro the last of Joker’s wounds closed up. Mona nodded. “There, all healed. That was a nasty surprise, alright. Sure hope Necronomicon’s doing okay up here.” Brief snippets of hushed radio chatter confirmed that the Persona was operational wherever Shadow took her, at least. Carefully Mona peered out from behind the fallen vending machine where he and Joker hid. “That just leaves this psycho. Any bright ideas, Joker?”

The Leader of the Phantom Thieves pondered the situation. “We can’t just swarm her,” he whispered. “She said ‘flame’ chompers, and I saw some kind of beefy stun gun on her. That means she has both your weaknesses.” As the others winced he considered his own arsenal. “Leena should be resistant to Gun attacks, but chances are I’d still be outgunned. I can try hitting her with a status. Ghul should do the trick.”

“Whatever we’re doing, we must do it fast,” Fox warned in an urgent murmur from his position in a ‘tent’ of cubical wreckage. He peered through a crack at Jinx. “She’s still placing bombs. We’ll have a hard time fighting if our eyes are on the ground.”

Joker understood. “Status it is then. I’ll fear, you freeze. Mona, stick to your slingshot and stay mobile. Let’s do this.”

As one the Phantom Thieves sprung from cover, splitting up in three different directions. Jinx’s eyes lit up as she spotted them running across the cubicle walls. “There you are! See, I told ya all along. No need to be scared--or alive!” She cackled as minigun bullets ripped forth, but not so fast that the Thieves could stay one step ahead, for the most part at least. Jinx quickly taught them to not be predictable by shooting where they were going to be, drawing blood from both boys in quick succession. Mona attacked first, charging his slingshot as he jumped around. When he let loose eight shots flew at once that slowly curved through the air to find their mark. Jinx didn’t flinch, unbothered by the minor damage, and laughed as she chased him with a storm of gunfire.

Noise to her left made her turn, and with uncanny speed she unholstered and fired her Zapper. The stun bolt narrowly missed Fox’s head as he veered sideways, and as Jinx unloaded the artist’s blade began its colorful dance. In his hands his rainbow-edged katana moved even faster than her yellow gunshots, and it painted a pretty picture in the air as it sliced through each and every one.

“Ugh, stay still! I’m trying to shoot you!” Annoyed, Jinx switched to her rocket launcher, Fishbones.

Fox finished the barrage of slashes with a flourish as his Persona appeared behind him. “Goemon, strike!”

A meteor of ice fell upon Jinx as her rocket blew Fox back, but though Goemon’s magic dealt a chunk of damage, it did not freeze her. The sounds of a Flame Chomper snapping shut and an accompanying yelp drew her attention to a freshly-caught Mona. She grinned and aimed her stun gun at him. “Zap!”

“Ghul!” came the yell from behind her, and Jinx spun on a dime to shock Joker instead. Rather than a masked teenager, however, she found a hideous creature mid-lunge, its desiccated skin peeled back from the mutated bone of its talons and nightmarish face. Jinx stood firm and fired, only for the shot of lightning to pass straight through the Persona and a few feet to the left of Joker. The thief reached out his hand. “Evil Touch!”

As the gaunt horror’s claws fell upon her, Jinx felt fear well up within her heart, a terror that she’d never known. Hands of freezing cold clutched at her spine and deadened her nerves. With her braids flapping behind her she turned tail to run, but Fox stood in her path. As his sword flashed from its sheath, Joker and Ghul attacked from behind. In a few seconds their double-bladed assault left Jinx on the floor, bleeding from a dozen wounds, her hair and bandoliers in pieces, and thanks to the slice to her hamstring she wouldn’t be moving any time soon, either. Breathing heavily, Joker clamped down on a bullet wound with his free hand. “Good thing they aren’t any stronger than the average Metaverse bullets.”

“Is that it?” Fox sounded surprised. “I was expecting this to take a lot longer.”

Joker thought about the fight and came to a realization. “Well, she wasn’t a boss or anything. Just about our level. High damage, low defense and mobility. She needed more help from her team than they gave her.” He noticed her hand close around something that had fallen on the ground behind her. It wasn’t a weapon, but as he looked closer Joker noticed the bone glowing with some sort of magical fire. His eyes widened. “Hang on, she’s got!”

“Yoink!” Freed from his bonds and greedy for treasure as ever, Mona hurtled by and slid the bone right out of Jinx’s grasp. He came to a stop and held up the macabre item for examination. “What’ve we got here? Your ace in the hole?” The anarchist growled into the carpet and said nothing. Mona expected as much. “Guess I’ll just...whoa!” As he looked for a way to use it, the bone turned to dust, and magic appeared around him. With a final cry of alarm he disappeared.

“Mona? Mona!” Joker put a hand to his mask. “What happened? Where are you!”

A tense moment of silence passed before the cat’s voice reached him in answer. “I’m fine, I’m fine! I’m back in the hospital! That stupid bone warped me here somehow!”

Fox sighed in relief. “I’m glad to hear you’re alright. But, hurry back.” His eyes landed on the fight unfolding in the conference chamber between Ciella and Amara. “We’ve got a lot more work to do.”

“Yeah, I’m coming. Don’t get yourselves hurt before I get there!”

A loud crash drew Joker’s attention to the Grimleal Lieutenant as well. From his perspective it appeared as though she’d summoned meteors of ice in the room, just as Fox did in his. He heard her cry, “Floor of Despair!” and a moment later a hard wall of water swept through the conference room and dealt Amara a heavy blow. Another followed on its heels, this one from the opposite direction, but the Siren evaded it by getting behind one of the ice chunks. She began moving between cover quickly, filling Ciella with lead as the rabbit lady tried to chase her down. Joker nodded, and the two Thieves moved out.

[center][h3]Tora and Poppi[/h3]
Level 9 Tora (29/90) Level 8 Poppi (99/80)
[b]Location:[/b] Al Mamoon Northwest - Obelisk Temple
Yoshitune's [@Rockin Strings], Tora and Poppi, Kan-Ra, Panther, Skull
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1222[/center]

The lull in the battle lasted only a moment, and the Witch Doctor started round two off with a bang. In a swirl of vomit-green necromantic devilry she brought forth a fetid zombie stuffed with volatile magic. It charged, gurgling violently as it flailed limp arms, and together Tora and Poppi stepped up to the challenge. Sword and shield side by side, two halves of a whole warrior, they readied themselves and waited patiently as the undead drew near. To their left, Dante sliced through Kan-Ra’s bandages and started swinging, forcing Kan-Ra on the defensive. Close quarters combat was clearly not the sorcerer’s forte. “Assist me!”

“Jump on Tora signal!” Tora told him. The Zombie Charger gave a wet, strangled cry and threw itself at him. “Now!”

Poppi Alpha swung her claymore in a sideways chop over Tora’s head, but his tuft of hair went unharmed by the flat of her blade. It smacked the zombie out of the air and sent it flying to the left as it swelled up to explode, and as Kan-Ra launched himself over it, the undead blew up right in Dante’s face. With a cry as disgusted as it was pained, the demon killer stumbled backward, allowing Kan-Ra to seize the opportunity. While still airborne he coughed up a swarm of cursed locusts that chased Dante down and struck multiple times. He landed in a burst of sand, creating another trap, and as Dante lashed out with a weapon transformed into a [url=https://i.imgur.com/TeXVt17.png]silver scythe[/url] an arm of sand pushed up from below Kan-Ra. The scythe blade cleaved harmlessly through the arm while Kan-Ra soared over and came down in a diving turn to start a new combo. Sand kick chained into bandage whirlwind into a summoned scorpion sting, but rather than deal with the slowing curse Dante just whipped out the Rebellion and shot forward in a Stinger of his own. His blade pierced Kan-Ra’s chest and carried him clear to the other side of the hall before sinking into the sandstone, but still the sorcerer grinned at him. Dante’s lip curled. “Why don’t you curl up and die already, asshole?!”

Bandages encircled his arms as Kan-Ra sneered. “I have evaded death since the time of the Babylonian empires of old, you mere, foul-mouthed upstart! The magic and experience of thousands of years is alive within me. The likes of you could never quash it.” He raised his arms above his head and crossed them, activating some sort of power. His rotting skin turned to sand, and with ease he simply pushed himself off Dante’s blade. “Your soul will be mine!”

At the same time Tora and Poppi contended with the Witch Doctor. With the better swordsman out of the picture Poppi could change back to her more offensive QT Pi mode, so Tora protected his partner from screeching firebats while she transformed again. Blade extended, he spun like top using the Speedy Sword art to swat the bats from the air like flies. He got dizzy fast and came to a stop in time to see another explosive zombie headed toward him, followed by a horde of spiders and toads. With a sharp inhale he brought the Variable Saber into position and unleashed a Swooshing Slash to catapult himself off the ground, the hapless undead along for the ride. In midair he twisted to deliver an upside-down horizontal swipe, cutting his foe in half before it could detonate. “Meheh, yes!” Tora celebrated as he fell, pumping his free wing.

The next moment he landed in Poppi QT Pi’s arms. She smiled down at him. “Good hit, masterpon! Not too dizzy, Poppi hope?”

“Not at all!” Tora boasted, putting on his tough guy act. “Tora ready for more!”

Poppi grinned and lifted him up, holding him like a bowling ball. “In that case, Poppi not need say ready-set-go!”

“What!? Meeh!”

Before he could protest further she launched him with all the strength she could muster and sent him rolling down the corridor at a breakneck pace. He bowled straight through the toads and spiders, knocking aside those he didn’t crush, until he struck the Witch Doctor right in the shins. She toppled with a cry and fell atop him in a heap. “Mehmehmeh!?” Tora gave a muffled squeak in surprise, pinned beneath her like an exercise ball. “H-hold on, magic lady, Tora not complain, but Poppi get wrong idea if see-!”

“Masterpon!” he heard from the direction he came, prompting him to start wiggling. “Get out of there RIGHT NOW!” Poppi jumped into the air and boosted forward, rocketing down the hall. As she came she prepared a mighty flying kick, which Tora could not entirely assume wasn’t meant for him, and with a last ditch effort the Nopon pushed off with his wings to throw the Witch Doctor into Poppi’s way. She took a direct hit right to the belly and flopped away, every bit of air driven from her lungs.

Tora jumped up to see Poppi standing with her hands on her hips. “Total defeat! Great job, Poppi!” he congratulated. Before she could say anything he pointed behind her. “Look look, Kan-Ra need help! Let’s go!”

He snatched the Variable Saber and ran off toward the other fight. Despite Kan-Ra’s boasts Dante was figuring out his tricks one by one and getting the better of him with his more varied arsenal, and once the sorcerer’s Instinct ran out he found himself with no room to breathe. Tora joined the battle with a Steady Beam that blasted Dante’s legs out from under him, then passed the sword to Poppi calling, “All power to weapons systems!”

Poppi caught the saber and blasted her thrusters. “Poppi laying down law!” She dropped onto the Demon Killer with an electric overhead slash into a flip kick to pop him up. The Variable Saber morphed into shotgun form, and with Tora cheering her on, the artificial blade hammered him with two near point-blank shots.

“Gah!” Dante snarled as he tumbled away. He immediately tried to stand again, only to fall to one knee. “You little shits! They’re gonna have to scrape you off the pave--huh?” He looked down to see a yellow magic circle forming beneath him. “Oh come on, dammit, I’ve got this! Just gimme half a sec to regener-”

In a flash of magic he was gone. Tora turned to see the same thing happen to the Witch Doctor. He crossed his wings, looking pleased with himself. “Got ‘em both! Meanypon talked big, but no match for Tora and friends!”

Kan-Ra stared at where the circle had been. “I doubt that will be the last we see of them. I suspect that they were forcibly withdrawn. If we are fortunate, they will not be fully healed next time.”

The Nopon shrugged. “Meh. Tora heal out of fight anyway, so fair fair. Next time we wallop even better! Let’s find way down.”

Poppi stopped him. “Hold on, Tora covered in frog and spider muck. Poppi switch to water core to wash off.”

Not content to wait, Kan-Ra stood up from where he’d been examining Red and headed down the hall. “Do not waste much time. Every moment spent might be an ally’s last, yes?” He spoke the truth, and before long a cleaned-up Tora and Poppi hurried after him.

[center][h3]Big Band[/h3]
Level 3 Big Band (19/30)
[b]Location:[/b] Al Mamoon Northwest - Obelisk Temple
Primrose’s [@Yankee]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 773[/center]

In supportive silence Big Band watched his dance partner contemplate the ridiculous gauntlet of axes and spikes before them. When she worked up the courage he accepted the personal effects she shed while doing his best to stop his gaze from roaming. He heard her resolution and nodded. “You got this, girl. If anythin’ goes wrong, I’ll jump in right after ya. We’re in this together.” After that, it was go time, and Primrose stepped forward to strut her stuff.

She slipped past the first axe and paused. If the first step was a doozy, the first axe had to be a whole different beast. After that, however, she proceeded with speed and grace. Primrose ran like the wind between the blades, making it look easy, and any doubt Band might have harbored about her reaching the other side drained away. “You’re killin’ it, girl! Keep it up!”

Scarcely had the encouragement left his lips, however, before disaster struck. The final axe of the bunch clipped her, grazed her really, its fleeting touch no more cruel than a goodbye kiss. But it was enough. Without even a cry of pain Primrose parted ways with the bridge and embarked into the open air. “PRIMROSE!” Band bellowed, the force of his amplified cry shaking the room itself. He tensed his servos to jump, but before he could cast himself into the abyss after her, he realized a little something. She wasn’t falling. The dancer hung in the air, buoyed up by the magic of the scarf wound around her neck. Band let out a heavy sigh into his mouthpiece, which released a couple of off-key notes of relief from his instruments. “Mercy, mercy, mercy. If that ain’t a miracle I don’t know what is.”

Though maybe even more surprised than he was, Primrose managed to figure out what was going on. She didn’t need Band’s detective skills to realize that the scarf’s pattern was receding quickly, and made her way back to solid ground before gravity could reclaim her. Understandably she took a moment to compose herself. It wasn’t long before she sussed out a switch of some kind as pressed it. After a series of mechanical clanks and locks, every trap in the joint made itself scarce. Band wasted no time cruising straight down the bridge, through the former ring of spikes, and ahead of where Primrose waited. He returned her things, then doffed his hat. “My thanks.”

Ahead lay another staircase, and Band led the way down. “This must be the third floor,” he observed, and sure enough, when he listened closely he could hear the faint echoes of heavy combat somewhere nearby. Before he or Primrose could pay much attention to that, however, another delightful spectacle awaited them.

This time, the room opened up into a cavern of mammoth proportions. Light streamed down through an array of holes far above, possibly another grate in the city streets, to illuminate the vast space. At a certain distance from the surface the natural stone of the earth gave way to immense walls of masonry, pillars and arches and bricks all of stone. How much effort it took to make this, or why anyone would in the first place, Band couldn’t fathom. A much longer and wider bridge than the last spanned the whole space, seemingly sunken in the middle, but as Band went over to the edge he realized that along with greater safety came more danger. He gave a long whistle as he stared down, down, down. “Don’t look now. ‘Cause I hear this sorta thing looks back.”

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XU6WZoo.jpg[/img][/center]

He stepped away from the edge to look around, kicking at the corner of his trench coat that got a little too close to one of the piles of candles that seemed to be everywhere. It didn’t take the genius to notice the platform a short drop away from the bridge, about halfway down and to the right side. The sounds of fighting issued from there. “That’s gotta be it.” More noise turned his attention back to the bridge. To his displeasure he saw a gaggle of skeletons headed his way, both [url=https://i.imgur.com/DmfWs35.png]normal[/url] and [url=https://i.imgur.com/O1KIQ9G.png]fun-sized[/url]. They waltzed on up with all sorts of weapons, barring the way forward. Even without Primrose’s invaluable help, though, he would have felt pretty confident. “Hmph! Tough crowd, huh?” He deployed two giant fists and pounded his brass knuckles together. “But not as tough as us! Care to dance?” With standard enemies like these, he didn’t think it necessary for Primrose to stay back and stick to support. She could get a few licks in of her own. 

[center][h3]Ms Fortune[/h3]
[b]Level 4[/b] Nadia (71/40)
[b]Location:[/b] The Maw - the Depths
Blazermate's [@Archmage MC], Bowser's [@DracoLunaris], Ace Cadet's [@Yankee], Sakura's [@Zoey Boey], Frog's [@Dark Cloud], Mirage’s [@Potemking]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 819[/center]

Although Nadia wasn’t about to admit it her heart had nearly leaped out of her chest when the transformed Moreau jumped for her. Even with all the desensitization built up after the butchery of her family and the casual self-dismemberment she employed while fighting, the primal fear of something horrible jumping at her never went away. Still, she needed to put on a brave face as she went about the business of distracting that monster. She might not be able to stop other people worrying, but she could keep them from worrying about her. Every day of her early childhood as a stray had been a battle for survival against starvation, the elements, and anyone who might look at a lost, raggedy kitten and see an opportunity. She couldn’t fight back then, but fear and hunger -her constant, faithful companions- spurred her on where they slowed others down. They could do so again today. She could get through this.

Plus, she had the ever-dependable Ace Cadet, and even Blazermate came up to lend a hand. The damage to her flight systems meant she could only fly in short bursts, which meant she had to be content with monitoring Moreau rather than helping directly, but the feral appreciated any companionship up here. With her allies’ help Nadia proceeded with her strategy. After one more chain-suspended section of catwalk went hurtling down toward the water, the trio reached the long bridge Nadia crossed earlier, the one with the missing grates in the middle. Enough grates still lay in place on either side to present an opportunity, and the strength of a couple four-year-olds proved enough to lift the grates from their housings and slide them out, no hazardous chain-cutting required. With every object that splashed into the water the monster fish made his presence known, bellowing awfully as he surfaced to take another shot at the kids disturbing his domain. Each time he came a little close for comfort but short of the mark, though once one of his tentacles actually brushed Nadia’s tail. She jumped, then in a feat of childish disrespect that felt very appropriate to the situation at hand stuck out her tongue to blow a raspberry at the horror. “Yeah, keep tryin’, freakshow! This cat ain’t gonna be fish food!”

Two grates into the bridge Nadia heard a whistle from afar, and looked down toward the submerged scaffolding by the Depths’ entrance to see Link standing alone, makeshift weapons in hand. His expression was serious, so despite how cute it was seeing a little kid so ready for war with a tennis racket and back scratcher, Nadia craned her cat ears to hear him over the noise of Moreau sloshing through the water. So, he wanted to try dropping some heavy metal, huh? The idea of attacking the monster directly never really occurred to Nadia, given the sheer luck it would take with her strategy. But if someone could guarantee the abomination’s position? [i]That could work![/i] By the looks of it Ace thought the same thing, which meant they were in agreement. “Yeah, let’s do it!” Nadia called back, getting ready to move.

After making it once she knew the path that lay before them was dangerous, but by no means impossible. “Okay, we’ve just gotta get back to where we started,” she then said aloud, as much for herself as her partner in crime. “I’ll show ya how I crossed this bridge in the first place. After that it’s easy thanks to my...fan.” Her little face scrunched up as she remembered who she entrusted it to. “Rats. Guess my way’s no good. Well, at least BJ’s got it for an emergency.” Once again she pictured the young Koopa using it like a propeller to get to safety, totally oblivious to the issues of using the device underwater.

Instead her mental power went to wondering how long it would take her and Ace to get through the aerial maze again. They needed to be dropping stuff at all times to keep the heat off Junior and the other divers. Her thought processes paused as Moreau breached once again, hurling himself in her general direction even though she and Ace hadn’t sent any more distractions. “Hopefully he’s mad enough at us he won’t notice the others while we’re movin’,” she remarked, a little more nervously than she would have liked. She did not expect Ace to take her hand, his touch full of warmth and reassurance. “Huh?” But there was no time for questions. He led her across an alternative route through the labyrinth, one that put them right where they needed to be. Ace positioned the cutters, and with renewed vigor Nadia seized the other side. “Ready!”

It came down to Link. He needed to get the monster’s attention from ground level without getting snapped up by those wretched jaws. “You got this, little hero!” she called down.

[hr]

One by one the divers in the Command Center took the plunge, with the intrepid Bowser Junior leading the way. Although the resolute Mockingbird intended to follow the BULL down, it took long enough for Bella to maneuver the Universal Helper up, over, and down into the central pit that the diving suit had more than enough time to jump in itself. A few moments later the BULL splashed down behind it, and at Mirage’s direction its vortex motor kicked into gear to propel it through the water with respectable speed.

As the machine disappeared into the deep, with the eyes of all those who remained upon it, Bella took a deep breath and let herself down from the comm station’s chair. She didn’t know what to make of the goop-filled suit that called itself Duerage, but whatever it was, it represented one of three chances to access the controls that would get everyone out of this godforsaken place. But she knew they weren't equal. The Universal Helper was just remote-controlled metal, totally disposable and an ideal tool for the job. Whether human or not the Mockingbird couldn’t be killed like Junior and his faithful Mimikyu could. Being honest with herself, Bella was terrified for the two. “Good luck down there, guys,” she told them, hoping that the prayers of the Seekers would reach those brave few who faced the Depths.

Down below, the divers were greeted by oppressive darkness. Making any progress at all demanded that the onboard lights of all three crafts be switched on, especially for the Mockingbird if it were to have any idea of what lay beneath it as it drifted straight to the bottom. Once on, their lights shone through water mostly devoid of murkiness or organic contamination, revealing a flooded factory frozen in time. Rusty machines and structures provided a lot of clutter to carefully navigate around, but no sealife appeared to challenge them. From off to the left there issued intermittent grunts and bellows that reverberated through the deep, and the traces of movement in that direction suggested the presence of a single large creature near the surface--the hideous fish-monstrosity currently occupied by the efforts of Nadia and the Cadet. So long as the divers didn’t give off too much noise -or foolishly shine their lights Moreau’s way- they could focus on the descent. The plan was working.

Mirage saw something first. As he worked the BULL’s roving lights, scoping out the machinery and other obstacles he needed to guide the robot past, he happened to land his light on a corpse-white body afloat in the water, motionless except for the slow swirl of her incredibly long, pitch-black hair. Most eerily, though the body’s head pointed directly at him, she had no face whatsoever. Just a blank, featureless stretch of pale skin. When he continued his descent he kept his light on the body as long as he could, then moved it to make sure the BULL could navigate around a couple pipes. When he sent the light back up to check on the [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9d/3a/fe/9d3afe2b9772ea4cf5f78e84bd5864a9.jpg]corpse[/url], it was gone.

A few moments later, the light of Junior’s sub revealed an unrotted, raven-haired body in the water. This one floated close to the side of a large, cylindrical structure, sprawled as if swimming, but neither its limbs nor its disquietingly faceless head made a movement of any sort. A moment after Junior relocated the light, however, a sudden spike in anxiety directed him to move it back, just in case. It had been gone for just a moment, but when the beacon fell on the cadaver again, it wasn’t where it had been. It was closer. Much closer. Just a few meters away. And its hand was reaching out toward the glass.

The Mockingbird alighted softly on the factory’s bottom floor. Cluttered with tools, materials, structure gel growths, and products rendered inscrutable by their water damage and various states of completion, it offered tricky but workable terrain to an entrepreneuring diving suit. A right turn put the Mockingbird on course for the flow controls that lay somewhere on the flooded factory’s wall opposite the door the Seekers entered through. Were there nothing in its way the suit could mosey on over and beat the others to it by a long shot, but that didn’t appear to be the case. Through the gloom ahead the Mockingbird could see a pale pink glow that slid through the water, a lone light in the darkness. Behind it followed [url=https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000525274449-kl3f6a-t500x500.jpg]something unnatural[/url], pulled along as if by a carrot on a stick, yet as it became aware of the diving suit’s headlamp it was drawn like a moth toward the stronger source of light.

[center][h3]Cold Monastery[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Frozen Highlands - Alpine Skyline
Linkle’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy][/center]

With both Monastery visitors at something of a loss, a few seconds passed in silence before Skadi changed gears again and started lavishing her dog with attention, stroking his his, cupping his ears, and squeezing his cheeks. Still bewildered, Albedo could only look on and wildly speculate until Linkle took action. As she lowered herself and her hair changed color, he backed up to give her room to work her magic, curious what she intended to do with her ice. As she beckoned and molded her freezing power, giving it definition bit by bit, his weren’t the only eyes on her. Skadi herself seemed excited, bobbing back and forth with her eyes fixed on the wintry enchantment being built before her. It didn’t take long for her to recognize what Linkle was making, and her eyes sparkled with delight when they beheld the finished sculpture.

After giving her dog a final pat the vacant goddess scooted forward toward the Skullgirl’s offering. “Sooo kawaii!” she sang, a big smile on her face. She laid her hand on the glacious Shiba Inu’s head as if to pet it, only for her eyes to widen in surprise and fascination. “Such...cold…”

A cool mist issued from the point of contact. For a moment, Skadi was still, her breathing soft. A living, breathing, material goddess knelt before Linkle, just a handful of inches away, on the other side of her sculpture. She was close enough that the girl could see her eyes, and for a moment it looked as though a light glowed within, crisp and clear as a cloudless winter sky. From here she could also make out faint lines straight above and curved around the bottom of her right eye, like face paint. Had those always been there? Just as with her eyes, it was nearly impossible to tell, so dim were these traces. Unable to feel the cold, Linkle didn’t think to look down until Albedo whispered her name. “Linkle…” He directed her gaze down to the ice dog, the sight of which prompted an unexpected realization. At Skadi’s touch, it had grown larger, bolstered by fresh ice, the source of which could only be the goddess herself. This strange woman who looked so totally out of place in the Frozen Highlands retained some trace of winter inside her.